JOIN USMCA students develop security system for CRPF
The software, which helps the Centre store every essential detail of a visitor in digitised format, was said to be so impressive that the CRPF has now proposed expanding it to its group centres across the country.
The CRPF Centre upgraded its security system by installing the software early this month. Son of a CRPF personnel and a second year student of Hebbal’s Presidency College, Mahantesh N developed the software along with two classmates, Ranjith Jose and Mansoor Ali M T, as part of their college project.
Besides recording digitised data of a visitor, the software also generates a unique number which is stuck on the visitor’s pass before he/she finds entry into the CRPF establishment. Needless to say, the software helps CRPF keep a tab on the visitor.
Having lived in four group centres before, Mahantesh realised that keeping manual records was time-consuming for the Paramilitary Force. “Having lived on the CRPF campus, I thought why not upgrade the system, which would make data collection faster and easier.” He then approached DIGP K Arkesh, who was impressed with the project and decided to implement it.
Only 200 entries
He was referred to G Chandrashekhar, head constable and radio operator, who started data collection using Microsoft Access in 2007. “However, we could only store 150 to 200 entries in a single file. So managing the data was a problem,” said Chandrashekhar.
He added that there was also no way the security guards could authenticate the purpose of the visitor. He, therefore, gave inputs to Mahantesh, who then reworked on the existing system.
“The present system is cost effective, time-saving and does not compromise on the security requirements. In the previous system, we needed four people for verification. Now, we only need one person to feed the data,” said Arkesh. Even the CRPF Director General, who visited the campus recently, was impressed with the security system and is now planning to replicate it in other CRPF campuses across the country.
Meanwhile, introducing Biometric entry system by storing the fingerprints of all residents on the campus, is also in the pipeline, said Arkesh.
About the software
With about 7,000 visitors to the CRPF group centre per day, the software records all the entries in a single database, thereby making the process of data retrieval easier. It constantly takes backups of all the records. The system also has detailed information about all the families residing on the campus along with their photographs. “It took us nearly two months to collect all this data,” said Chandrashekhar.
Once the visitor’s information, the person he intends to see and period of stay are recorded, the software generates a unique number that is stuck on the visitor’s card. If the visitor does not return this card within the said time, the software sets off an alarm alerting the quick reaction team.
It also helps verify the visitor’s claim of knowing the person he intends to meet within the campus, in a matter of seconds. With limited access and virtually no sharing of network, DIGP Arkesh is confident that the system is fool-proof and cannot be breached.